


Nightmare

by HorseCrazyWriter76



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Can be interpreted as platonic or romantic - Freeform, Fluff, Gen, Happy Valentines Day!, Logan is a math god, Patton is a cinnamon roll who cant math, Virgil has nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 21:37:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17795213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HorseCrazyWriter76/pseuds/HorseCrazyWriter76
Summary: Virgil has a nightmare and Patton helps him calm down.Or Virgil has a nightmare and helps Patton with his math homework to calm down and Patton is a precious bean.Partly inspired by the song Free by Mother Mother





	1. The Devils Hour

Virgil’s eyes sprung open. He was covered in sweat and he could feel his blankets twisting around his feet like vines.

“You okay, kiddo?” he heard his roommate asked. Virgil shifted slightly so that his hand fell off of his shoulder.

“Y-Yeah, I’m good,” he said, taking deep, shuddering breaths, “Thanks, Pat.”

“No problem! I was still doing homework anyways,” he replied, and Virgil could tell even in the darkness that he was flashing his brightest smile. His eyes zeroed in on the glow of the desk lamp across the room, then glanced to the alarm clock next to his bed.

“It’s 3am, shouldn’t you get some sleep?”

“I know, but there’s a test on this tomorrow and I can’t figure out a set of problems.”

“I’m sure you actually mean today given the time. Ugh, let me help. Not like I’ll be going back to sleep anytime soon,” Virgil grumbled and swung his feet off the edge of his bed.

“Are you sure? Lolo always says it’s not healthy to miss out on sleep! Circandum rhythm, right?”

“Says the roommate who hasn’t gotten any sleep so far and circadian.” he scoffed and stood up, rolling his chair over to Patton’s desk.

“Mother of spiders, geometry?”

“What?”

“Isn’t that a sophomore class? Like, highschool sophomore.”

“It was on the list as possible math credits!”

“Ok, ok, which problem are you on?”

“1.”

“Ok, that’s tangent not sin.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, see, you know one leg and are asked to find the other with one of the angels in a right triangle, that’s tangent.”

“But which one do you put on top?”

“You put the one that’s not touching the angle on top.”

“So, AB?”

“Yup,” Virgil replied and watched as Patton erased his work, then jotted down the new formula and punched it into his calculator.

“It’s negative.”

“Is it set to radians?”

“I dunno, how do you check?” he asked. Virgil held out his hand for the calculator and tabbed through the settings.

“Yup, radians. Here, I set it to degrees, try again,” he handed the calculator back. He helped him through the next couple problems before Patton got the hang of setting up the problems. He zoned out watching his roommate’s pencil dance across the page.

“Thank’s Virgie,” Patton chirped.

“A: Don’t call me that, B: how are you so cheerful at 3am?” he asked. Patton grinned and shrugged as he packed away the worksheet and calculator.

“Do you want me to sleep with you?” Patton asked. Virgil blinked blearily at him.

“What?”

“Do you want me to sleep with you? Or we could pull over my mattress so I can sleep next to you if you'd rather.”

“Why?”

“So I can chase away the nightmares for you,” he replied, looking at Virgil with the aforementioned cheer that should not be allowed to exist at 3am.

“I don’t think it works that way, but if it makes you happy,” he shrugged and spun towards his bed. He scooted to the side put a pillow next to him as a divider, then patted the space left. Patton clicked off the desk lamp and fumbled over to the bed. Virgil felt the bed complain as he climbed in and he threw the blanket over to him. It would have made more sense for Patton to have grabbed one of his own blankets, but whatever. He listened to Patton’s breathing as he drifted off to sleep.

_Virgil dove towards the ground, relishing the feeling off the wind rushing past his feathers. He pulled up sharply to land on a branch and watched as the others raced down towards him. He shook out his feathers then fluttered off into the rafters of an old building. He lifted his wings as-_

“Five more minutes you mother of a dust mite,” he grumbled, slapping in the general direction of the beeping that had interrupted his sleep. His hand landed on Patton’s glasses and he shot up. Patton was curled around a pillow with his face buried in the blankets, apparently still asleep. He rolled his eyes and shut off the alarm before climbing out of bed, careful not to disturb him. He replaced his sweats with a pair of black skinny jeans and a black hoodie that was 3 sizes too large. It was more of a sweater dress on him than a hoodie, really.   _Ah, the benefits of being tiny,_ he thought to himself as he set off, snatching his bag from where it sat ready at the door and a granola bar from the snack bowl Patton had set up when he learned Virgil sometimes forewent meals to get to class on time while maximizing sleep.


	2. Word Association Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Most of this chapter is a word association game.

“Focus, Virgil. Being friends with me will not stop me from telling the teacher if you cheat on this test,” Logan tapped his pencil on the book open between them. It was for one of their shared classes, linear algebra. Logan was, of course, grasping the content with ease. For Virgil the equations might as well have been chinese.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” he muttered and tried to focus on what Logan was showing him. Something about matrices and determinants. He was about ready to throw the textbook at the next student that walked by. Logan squinted at him, then adjusted his glasses and marked the page with the worksheet they were supposedly working through.

“Let’s take a break,” he said, retrieving his car keys from his pocket.

“Finally,” Virgil grunted, shoving the textbook into his bag. Logan shook his head, a smile peeking through his serious facade, “Where to oh great and powerful math god?”

“Our destination is a surprise,” Logan replied, completely ignoring the last part of the question.

“Lead the way, master of determinants.”

“So you have been listening to some of what I’ve been saying,” he scoffed as he unlocked his car.

“Sure I have.”

“One would think you haven’t given how much your skills in the area seem to be lacking.”

“Yeah, yeah, focus, blah, blah, blah.”

“I seem to feel I am not being taken seriously.”

“Nah, you’re great, Lo. Woah, you broke out a podcast? How long are we driving? Are you kidnapping me?”

“Yes, about half an hour more, no, in the same order,” Logan replied. Virgil nodded even though he knew his friend couldn’t see him. He half-listened to the podcast as the scenery whizzed by. It was something about the Amazon and didn’t seem particularly inspiring. Logan finally pulled into a gravel parking lot.

“The forest?”

“We’re not there yet. The final destination can only be reached on foot.”

“Ugh, exercise.”

“Exercise has-”

“Yeah, I know it’s good for you and stuff. Let’s get hiking.”

“It is quite fascinating, but yes, let’s start,” Logan replied and started off down the well beaten trail. They walked along in silence, with Logan leading Virgil onto less and less well worn paths until they reached the top of a hill with a view out onto small, dirty pond.

“Ah,” Logan screamed in a monotone.

“What?”

“My therapist and various sources online said it is supposed to help relieve stress.”

“You see a therapist?”

“My father doesn’t trust me to look after my mental health. Seeing a therapist was part of the agreement for him to help pay for my education.”

“Ok. I think you’re doing it wrong, though.”

“Then show me how you believe it should be done?”

“Sure you want a demonstration?”

“Yes.”

“Ok, you asked for it,” Virgil replied and took a deep breath before letting out an ear splitting scream. Logan screamed again in a slightly less monotone voice. They took turns screaming, each one louder or weirder than the last until Logan finally cracked a grin at Virgil’s attempt at mimicking Roman’s horror-movie scream.

“Hah! I made you laugh!”

“I smiled! That is not laughing. Besides, I was unaware of the challenge.”

“Ok, first one to laugh or smile loses. Animal noises, go.”

“Baa.”

“Moo.”

“Oink.”

“Bark.”

“Meow.”

“Chirp.”

“Whistle.”

“Squeak.”

“Dook.”

“That’s not an animal noises.”

“Dook is the name of the sound a ferret makes,” Logan pointed out.

“Ok, you win that game.”

“I thought the aim was not to laugh or smile.”

“Ok, open category starting with grass, go.”

“Plant.”

“Tree.”

“Leaf.”

“Stem.”

“Cells.”

“Life.”

“Nature.”

“Mosquitos.”

“Insects.”

“Bugs.”

“Arachnids.”

“Spiders.”

“Spiderman.”

“Wolverine.”

“Wolf.”

“Coyote.”

“Trickster.”

“Pranks.”

“Whoopie cushions.”

“3rd grade.”

“School.”

“Homework.”

“Math.”

“Algebra.”

“X.”

“Y.”

“Letters.”

“Alphabet.”

“Alphabetizing.”

“Books.”

“Words.”

“Sentences.”

“Writing.”

“Reading.”

“Novels.”

“Adventure.”

“Treasure.”

“Gold.”

“Elements.”

“Periodic Table.”

“Atomic number.”

“36.”

“Krypton.”

“Superman.”

“Paragons.”

“Good.”

“Evil.”

“Demons.”

“Fight.”

“Victory.”

“Loss.”

“Death.”

“Mourning.”

“Life.”

“Water, but we already said life.”

“Ocean, just keep going, this is fun.”

“Boats.”

“Titanic.”

“Iceberg.”

“Arctic.”

“Antarctica.”

“Penguins.”

“Birds.”

“Parrots.”

“Speaking.”

“Language.”

“English.”

“Spanish.”

“Spain.”

“Portugal.”

“Spice trade.”

“Turmeric.”

“Pepper.”

“Spiciness.”

“Food.”

“Cooking.”

“Kitchen.”

“Bedroom.”

“Bed.”

“Night.”

“Stars.”

“Space.”  
“Galaxy.”

“Milky Way.”

“Snickers.”

“Hungry.”

“Anger.”

“Emotions.”

“Inside Out.”

“Pixar.”

“Animation.”

“Frame.”

“Picture.”

“Painting.”

“Art.”

“Sculpture.”

“Clay.”

“Earth.”

“Sea.”

“Sky.”

“Clouds.”

“Condensation.”

“Precipitation.”

“Rain.”

“Shine.”

“Metal.”

“We should go back to campus,” Logan finally pointed out.

“We’re both good at keeping straight faces, aren’t we?”

“Would this be an appropriate time to point out neither of us are straight?”

“You made a gay joke!” Virgil squealed, feeling more than a little bit silly and childish.

“I win,” Logan replied, pointing at Virgil’s smile before letting a tiny grin appear on his face.


	3. My Chemically Imbalanced Romance

Virgil spun around to glare at the boy who had been trailing him, “What do you want, Princey?”

“Why are you so hostile?”

“Why are you following me?”

“I want to talk to you.”

“Then call my name and get my attention like a normal person. I have class in,” Virgil paused to consult his phone, “2 minutes.”

“Fine! Virgil, would you like to hang out?”

“Class.”

“Not this instant! This afternoon, 5-ish.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Talk.”

“About what?”

“Stuff.”

“Fine. Meet me at the cemetery.”

“Cemetery?”

“The one right next to campus?”

“I know what you mean, but why the cemetery?”  
“I don’t know, take a wild guess as to why I might like the cemetery. Buh bye,” he snapped and stormed off without giving Roman a chance to respond. He didn’t know what it was about that boy, but he always managed to rub him the wrong way. Maybe it was because they were opposite, he sported white, red, and gold, while Virgil stuck to dark grey, black, and the occasional purple. Virgil shook the thoughts out of his mind and tried to pay attention to the teacher moan on about whatever is was they were supposed to be learning. He peered at the board before remembering this teacher didn’t seem to realize she could write on it. He quickly resigned himself to having google and the textbook as a teacher for that day. He wrestled the textbook out of his backpack and found the chapter. He started reading without really retaining any of the information. His mind was too busy overthinking everything Roman had said and everything Virgil had said in return over their entire history of knowing each other and trying to figure out what he wanted to talk about. The bell finally rang and Virgil wrestled the texbook back into his bag and ran back to his room. Patton was gone, thank goodness. He checked the time, 30 minutes to get there. It was only a five minute walk from his room, but he went anyways. He perched on the crumbling, graffitied stone wall to wait. Roman arrived 5 minutes later.

“You come here often?” he joked, watching Roman jump at his voice, apparently too absorbed in his own head to realize he was there.

“You come to the present timeline often?” he quipped. Virgil rolled his eyes.

“Weak.”

“I didn’t come to trade insults with you.”

“Well, that’s a first.”

“I’m trying to extend an olive branch here, but clearly you aren’t interested,” Roman scoffed. Virgil pretended to scout the surrounding area gleefully from his perch.

“I don’t see none of no olive branch.”

“So you do see it?”

“I did a triple negative, not double.”

“Fair enough. My point still stands. Patton is determined to make us be friends.”

“I haven’t heard anything about that.”

“Well you clearly don’t spend very much time with him.”

“He’s my roommate. I think I spend plenty of time with him. Heck, I helped him with math at 3am yesterday.”

“What were you doing up at 3am?”

“Helping Patton with his math work.”

“No, I got that. I mean  _ why?”  _

“Patton because he couldn’t figure out the difference between tangent, sin, and cosine. Virgil because he had a nightmare.”

“Anime is calling, they want their third person back.”

“Ha.”

“Ugh, this isn’t going anywhere.”

“I think it’s going somewhere.”

“Where?”

“The trash.”

“Ouch.”

“Ouch yourself.”

“Friends?”

“Tolerable presence.”

“Aw, you love me.”

“Nope.”

“Come here my little Tsundere.”

“Anime is calling, they want their character tropes back.”

“I made that joke first.”

“So?”

“So it’s my joke!”

“Most jokes aren't original, Princey.”

“Fine. I'll just beat up anyone who uses it without my express position,” Roman huffed. Virgil snorted.

“Come on, do you-”

“Wanna build a snowman?”  
“Or help me bury a dead body?” Virgil sang back in a false cheerful voice, glaring daggers at Roman.

“Killjoy.”

“Make some noise!”

“Of course you reference MCR.”

“Give me some credit! I reference Green Day and Paramore, too.”

“You are an emo nightmare.”

“Thank you. Besides, you’ve clearly listened to it if you knew that was a reference.”

“I have not!”

“Mama, we’re all full of lies.”

“Mama, we’re meant for the flies,” Roman sang under his breath.

“And right now, they’re building a coffin your size. Mama, we’re all full of lies,” Virgil finished, smirking down at Roman, who was blushing at being caught, “I think Princey had an emo phase.”

“Did not!”

“I was summoned by the sound of falsehood,” Logan said drily, popping up behind the wall.

“Logan! Give me a break!”  
“He did, in fact, have an emo phase. I do not know how he fit so many bracelets on his wrist at one time.”

“Gotcha, Princey,” Virgil smirked.

“Don’t you have class, book germ?”

“No, I was planning on seeing if Virgil wanted to study together again.”

“Oo, does the nerd have a crush?”

“No! He isn’t going to pass that class if he doesn’t grasp the basics of the concept.”

“I’m right here you guys.”  
“Sorry.”

“My apologies.”

“We’re cool, can I go back to my room now?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Well, Logan’s the responsible one and he said yes. Bye Princey.”

“Au revoir, My Chemically Imbalanced Romance,” Roman called after him. Virgil smirked and headed back up to his room. Sure, they were all idiots, but they were also his friends. That didn’t mean he couldn’t insult Roman, though.


End file.
